Infant feeding as a faith.

Abstract

I am the repository of infant lore. Thou shalt not hearken unto others in this field. Honor and love thy child. Remember that breast fed is best fed. Observe the 4-hourly routine to keep it holy. Thou shalt not overfeed. Thou shalt not push protein. Thou shalt not permit constipation. Thou shalt not feed except with precision. Thou shalt not permit solid food too early. Frederick Truby King of New Zealand did not enunciate this decalogue, but it embodies the spirit and substance of his teachings. The turn of the century witnessed a ferment among the pediatricians of the Western world. It was an age of false knowledge, of spurious understanding, a gnostic period that was ripe for the emergence of any prophet with a message. Numbers of such arose, but Truby King alone fulfilled the role successfully. Strangely enough, he is little known in the pediatric world, yet he probably exerted a greater influence on behalf of